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Machinima (Animation)
Machinima 'is a form of cinematic entertainment found online. In the place of animation and/or computer generated imagery from various animation softwares, such as Maya, machinima uses recordings of gameplay from already completed and distributed video games. History Throughout the 1980s and the 1990s, computer animation was something that various computer engineers and artists had been using and trying to enhance, especially in the realm of cinema. As video games also become more popular, including personal computer games in the later years of the 1980s, animated imagery and design in video games became more and more defined and cinematic in appearance. However it wouldn't be until later that recording footage for video games would be made more available. An early personal computer game by the title of ''Stunt Island ''(Disney Interactive Studios, 1992) became one of the first popular personal computer games with relatively easily usable gameplay-recording features. The game focused primarily on the execution and manipulation of cinematic stunts in a video game engine, and gave players the ability to record, edit and save footage of in-game stunts. Following the inclusion of this feature in ''Stunt Island, later popular games began including this feature in their design. Recording of in game footage became more and more popular as the feature was included in competitive shooter games in the late 1990s, such as Quake ''(id Software, 1996). Short videos were often recorded of matches between groups of competitive players, like highlight reels. Eventually, players of ''Quake ''and other games began branching out from just recordings of competitive matches. One group of gamers made one of the first well known narrative-including recordings of gameplay, titled "Diary of a Camper", in 1996. This video stood out as one of the first to use dialogue and staging for the purpose of a story, and entertainment value beyond just straight gameplay. In 2000, a website was launched by ''Quake player and Edinburgh University student Hugh Hancock by the name of machinima.com. The name came from a combination of the words "machine" and "cinema". The website included a variety of video-game-related content, involving text, but also imbedded videos of gameplay, both narrative and competitively themed, that could be accessed by a wider audience. The website grew in popularity rather rapidly, and machinima as a form of entertainment on the internet became more and more frequent over the years. The variety of games utilized in recordings and staging for machinimas expanded beyond just the Quake ''franchise, including such titles as ''Halo: Combat Evolved ''(Bungie, 2001) which was utilized in the popular webseries "Red vs Blue". created by Roosterteeth in 2003. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, imbedding videos in websites was the primary way of posting and sharing machinima content, both on and off of machinima.com. However, with the arrival of more video sharing websites, including gametrailers.com in 2002 and especially youtube.com in 2005, posting and sharing recorded game footage became much easier for all artist. It has been and continues to be a popular form of video entertainment involving community members skilled in video editing and comedy (and other genres of entertainment) putting their skills together to create new mediums. Keywords YouTube Entertainment Film Popular Examples Roosterteeth/Red vs Blue (2003--) Founded in 2003 and located in Austin Texas, Roosterteeth is a production company best known for the animated web series called "Red vs Blue". Starting in 2003, "Red vs Blue" continues being produced to this day. Originally, the series involved recording spoken dialogue from voice actors in the company, and then being edited and synced with edited recordings of multiplayer gameplay in the game ''Halo: Combat Evolved. As the series continued, they would move on to Halo 2, Halo 3, ''and other later games in the series. Red vs Blue was one of the first machinima series to push quality in terms of narrative and visuals, involving finding ways to stage players in the frame as looking more relaxed and at ease and staging various stunts with vehicles and explosives in the game. Roosterteeth would continue to make machinima series in other games. These series included "The Strangerhood," utilizing gameplay from ''The Sims 2, "P.A.N.I.C.S", utilizing gameplay from F.E.A.R. '' and others. However, none of these achieved the acclaim and popularity of "Red vs Blue". Arby 'n' the Chief "Arby 'n' the Chief" began being posted on youtube by Jon Graham, aka "Jon CG". The series used a combination of live-action footage of action figures from the ''Halo ''franchise and recorded footage of gameplay in ''Halo 3 ''and ''Halo: Reach. The plot followed the actions of a self-aware "Master Chief" and "Arbiter" action figure, living together in an apartment inhabited by an unseen owner of both. Much of the show involved critiquing of certain video games, including and beyond the Halo ''franchise, and critiquing the gaming community itself. The series utilized the popular "theater mode" in ''Halo 3 ''and ''Halo Reach to capture dynamic and dramatic footage of players in games, though it is not known for nearly as much staging and audio quality as the series "Red vs Blue" Resources and Further Reading '''1. Underground Machinima is Making Waves http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2003-08-09/news/0308090257_1_ill-clan-academy-game-developers '2. To Plunge into Second Life ' http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2007-10-08/features/0710050453_1_second-life-electric-sheep-csi '3. Straight to Video? Nah. From Video' http://articles.latimes.com/2006/nov/26/entertainment/ca-webscout26 '4. Machinima Directors Step Up Their Game' http://articles.latimes.com/2010/aug/29/entertainment/la-ca-machinima-20100829 '5. Machinima: Video Games as an Art Form?' http://journals.sfu.ca/loading/index.php/loading/article/viewFile/17/20 Citations/Sources # Picard, Martin. "Machinima: Video Games as an Art Form?" University of Montreal, 2007. Web. 2 Dec. 2015. # Buchanan, Levi. "Underground Machinima Is Making Waves." Tribunedigital-chicagotribune. Chicago Tribune, 09 Aug. 2003. Web. 19 Dec. 2015. # Fritz, Ben. "Machinima Directors Step up Their Game." Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times, 29 Aug. 2010. Web. 19 Dec. 2015. # Day, Patrick. "Straight to Video? Nah. From Video." Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times, 26 Nov. 2006. Web. 19 Dec. 2015. # Carter, Bill. "To Plunge into Second Life." Tribunedigital-chicagotribune. Chicago Tribune, 08 Oct. 2007. Web. 19 Dec. 2015. Category:Film Category:Entertainment Category:Media Category:Halo Category:Machinima Category:Red vs. Blue Category:Stunt Island Category:Quake